SB-0054: California Values Act

This bill would prohibit state, local, and school law enforcement and security agencies from participating in the enforcement of any federal program that requires registration on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or national or ethnic origin, including immigration proceedings. It would also require public schools, hospitals and courthouses to limit immigration enforcement on their premises and would limit the gathering and sharing of non-essential information by state agencies.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, California, representing the 5,000 board-certified pediatrician members of all four California AAP regional chapters statewide, strongly supports your proposed legislation SB 54 (de León). This bill would generally prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies, including school police and security departments, from using resources for immigration enforcement purposes, and would require all public schools, public libraries, state-operated health facilities, and courthouses to implement policies that limit assistance with immigration enforcement to the fullest extent possible.

It is our strongly held belief that all children should be afforded the right to attend school, visit a doctor’s office, or approach a police officer for help without fearing for their safety. Parents should be able to attend school events and parent-teacher conferences, seek medical care and request police assistance for themselves and their children without concern that their families will be torn apart as a result. Subjecting California families to programs and policies that threaten these central functions of parenting could pose innumerable, grave consequences to the social, psychological, and physical well-being of children.

SB 54 (de León) would dramatically advance the health of California children by assuring that no child or parent need fear detention, separation, or deportation as a result of seeking an education or medical care. It would help to reduce the toxic burden of fear that many children across our state live with every day, in a time when that fear has grown substantially more severe. And it would affirm our commitment to doing right by each and every child in our diverse communities, no matter who they are or the circumstances that brought them here.

Pediatricians across the state strongly support SB 54 (de León). We thank you for your public service and leadership on behalf of the health and wellbeing of children, youth, and families in California.

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